Leipzig is not a city about which I knew very much before my recent visit for Euroson. To many people certainly in Britain it is a city which was badly damaged in the war and was quite inaccessible until the reunification of Germany in the late 1980's.
It is certainly a city of contrasts - the old city is well preserved and is the place where Johann Sebastian Bach was choir master and brought up his very large family. Goethe the poet is closely associated with the city. There is still much evidence of the rather dull buildings from the 1960's and 70's but also very extensive rebuilding.
The Scientific meeting was of a very high standard as judged by the English language sessions - I am sure the German ones were at least as good but my linguistic limitations made it impossible for me to judge.
Certainly the whole afternoon given over to the new guidelines on the use of Ultrasound contrast media stimulated much discussion and was well attended.
The other session which impressed me was the one on Emergency ultrasound. It was good to hear from enthusiastic clinicians about how this tool is now well integrated into emergency and intensive care practice. My only concerns are that whilst in expert hands it is obviously properly used, in the hands of the less experienced this could be dangerous. I hope the skills of the experienced clinicians can be passed on to those with the same enthusiasm but little experience.
Perhaps if I have one disappointment it is the significant number of speakers (including invited ones) who fail to turn up or cancel at short notice. This is a cause of great concern to the organizers of a meeting and a grave disappointment to the audience.
So my memories of Leipzig are all good - a friendly city with much renovation going on - a good scientific programme to reinvigorate and lots of good "networking" which helps me appreciate how the Federation has evolved into a dynamic organization of relevance to all who practice Ultrasound across Europe.
